He French President Emmanuel Macron referred again to the possibility of establishing a new agreement between the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the European Union (EU)and assured that the European bloc is not in favor of “locking itself in” at a commercial level.
In recent days, the French president has pointed out the need to “review” the EU’s trade policy in order to defend the interests of the bloc against powers such as China and USAwhich, according to his understanding, “no longer respect” international rules.
In that sense, he explained that a new trade agreement with Mercosur will depend on respect for Paris Agreement on climate issues and fair competition.
“We are not in favor of locking ourselves in,” but rather of “fair competition,” he reiterated. Macron in reference to the “old generation” agreement between both continental blocks.
Likewise, he recalled that at the end of March, within the framework of his visit to Braziladvocated for a new Mercosur-EU agreementsince the one that has been negotiated for more than 20 years does not take into account the current challenges in terms of “biodiversity and climate.”
Macron criticized the commercial actions of China and the United States
On the other hand, Macron He stated that the EU is the only one that respects the trade rules as they were written about 15 years ago, while China and the United States do not.
“The Chinese and Americans no longer respect them by subsidizing critical sectors,” he noted, and asked to review these policies so that the climate, labor and health rules established by the European organization are met.
However, he pointed out that his country cannot “fall into the rejection of any trade agreement”, in reference to the French Senate’s rejection of the trade agreement between the EU and Canada. Macron understands that this should be a model of the trade pacts that the bloc should close, since it includes mirror clauses, which guarantee fair competition between European and Canadian producers.
Source: Ambito
